General License 55F

OFAC General License 55F is the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control authorisation, issued 11 June 2026, extending the services carve-out for the Sakhalin-2 Liquefied Natural Gas and crude project in Russia's FAR East for Japan. The GL 55 series has been renewed in successive lettered increments since Russia's 2022 invasion, each extension allowing Japanese entities (principally Mitsui and Mitsubishi, which hold a combined 22.5% stake in Sakhalin Energy LLC) to continue providing services necessary for the project's operation without violating US sanctions. GL 55F is distinct from and does not substitute for the General License 134 track, which covers vessel-services authorisation for Russian crude loaded before 17 April; GL 134C lapses at 12:01 EDT on 17 June 2026 with no successor published .

The distinction between GL 55F and GL 134 is load-bearing for markets. GL 55F is a project-specific authorisation tied to Japan's equity stake and LNG offtake; it does not provide cover for the broader population of vessels and service providers handling Russian seaborne crude. GL 134 is the general-purpose vessel-services cover for Russian crude that all Western-insurance-covered tankers relied upon. Issuing GL 55F without rolling GL 134 signals that OFAC is managing the Sakhalin exception on its own Japan-bilateral track while allowing the broader Russian crude cover to lapse .

For the European oil markets desk, GL 55F's issuance five days before GL 134C's expiry is a deliberate sequencing signal. It demonstrates OFAC's continued willingness to maintain allied exceptions (Japan-Sakhalin) while tightening on the general programme (Russian crude). The Urals discount and the seaborne KEBCO differential are the market instruments that translate the GL 134 status into price: a clean lapse removes Western insurance from in-transit cargoes, widening the discount; a GL 134D roll would cap it.